The Meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs, which takes place today and tomorrow in Brussels, will be led for the first time by the new NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. For the second time in the history of the Alliance, a woman, Radmila Šhekerinska from North Macedonia, is assuming the position of Deputy Secretary General. The agenda includes the security situation on Allied territory since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression and the Allies’ continued support for Ukraine. Other issues will be the threat from hybrid attacks and Russia’s increasingly close cooperation with China, North Korea and Iran. The Allies will also discuss more intensive cooperation with southern neighbours.

The heart of the transatlantic partnership

NATO lies at the heart of the transatlantic partnership, and it is crucial for the security of Europe and North America. It is and remains the central pillar of Germany’s security and defence policy. At the heart of this alliance is Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which states that every member country can count on its allies in Europe and North America to defend it should it come under armed attack, and that every member will in turn support its allies.

For months, Moscow has been targeting Ukraine’s energy supply on a massive scale with missile and drone attacks. Millions of people therefore have no access to electricity and water. On Tuesday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrij Sybiha will join the Foreign Ministers for a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council to discuss the situation in Ukraine and additional winter relief. Ukraine’s security is hugely important to NATO and its member states. The Alliance unreservedly supports Ukraine’s right to defend itself. The future of Ukraine lies in the EU and in NATO.

Ongoing support for Ukraine

Relations between NATO and Ukraine go back to the early 1990s, and have developed since then to become one of NATO’s most important partnerships. Since Russia’s full scale invasion in February 2022, many countries that are also NATO members have provided an unprecedented level of support. Many of them have supplied Ukraine – in some cases via the EU – with weapons, ammunition, and other military equipment, including anti tank and air defence systems, howitzers, drones, tanks and fighter jets. To date, Germany has provided a total of more than 37 billion euro in support for Ukraine. Further arms supplies worth 650 million euro are planned before the end of the year.

At the NATO summit in Washington in July 2024, the Allies reiterated their support for Ukraine and placed it on a sustainable footing. For the coming year, too, the Allies have pledged at least 40 billion euro for Ukraine. NATO is also assuming a more prominent role in coordinating military assistance for Ukraine in Wiesbaden, which to date has been led by the United States and the United Kingdom, and is thereby putting structures in place to secure long term support.

Europe to assume even more responsibility

Russia is likely to remain the greatest threat to the security of the European continent. Never before has Europe been so directly at risk, never before has the strength of our alliance faced such a challenge – both overt and covert, with propaganda bots in social media, with weapons and with hybrid attacks. We in Europe therefore need to assume even more responsibility for defence and deterrence. Germany consistently ensures that its defence planning is in line with NATO’s capability targets, and is investing in the continuous modernisation of its armed forces.

The German Government has substantially increased defence expenditure over the past few years. In 2024, Germany has spent 2.12 percent of its GDP on defence. Currently, 23 Allies have reached the NATO 2% target. We have also embarked on the establishment of a battle ready brigade in Lithuania, which is to be permanently stationed there. In 2023, we published our first ever National Security Strategy in Germany. In pursuing our policy of Integrated Security, our aim is to work with our partners, neighbours and allies to foster peace and security in Europe and across the globe.

Visit of the King of Jordan

Our security in Europe is bound up with the security of other regions of the world. In future, the Allies therefore intend to cooperate even more closely with partners in other regions of the world, such as our southern neighbours. A NATO Liaison Office is to be opened in Amman in order to coordinate this cooperation even more effectively. The NATO Foreign Ministers will discuss this and the situation in the Middle East with King Abdullah II of Jordan on Tuesday.